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As any significant honors show draws close, one notices an outcry for introducing of new categories to honor unsung work and fill the passions of followers dedicated to specific genres.

My colleague made the case for a horror game category. That would be fantastic. The same goes for strategy board titles, representing someone's personal cause. Yet I need to apologize in advance for pushing forward just as with other blinkered fanatics, I possess a compelling case supporting my request remains most pressing and important of all. This is the request: We need an award type for logic-based games.

Categorizing Game Types

Categorizing art by genre is not a science; opinions vary greatly, and it will always spark debates concluding with vague boundaries. It's understandable that cinema institutions don’t do it. But it is a necessary evil for the industry of interactive entertainment, showing incredible range they barely qualify a single creative category.

To recognize the complete range of interactive entertainment excellence to receive acknowledgment, and to ensure all game types to compete fairly, specific award classifications remain vital.

Current Gaming Award Categories

Leading game ceremonies offer these classifications covering Action-oriented games, Adventure-action titles, RPG experiences, Combat games, Simulation and strategy titles, plus athletic and racing experiences. Between them, these classifications successfully include many game types, making space possible for most games within them.

This doesn't apply to puzzle games. No suitable classification appears to put them. Think about these this year’s best games, showing diverse approaches: building puzzles in a particular game, intense tile-matching from another release, and the sweetly sociological logic puzzles in another game. Where could they possibly go within current classifications? Unfortunately, nowhere.

The Representation Problem

There are dozens of brilliant puzzle games launched regularly without proper recognition at major award shows, unless they happen to qualify classification types such as Handheld titles, Virtual reality experiences, or the extremely competitive Indie races.

• An iconic brain-teaser got overlooked completely that year
• Another imaginative release was excluded during that ceremony
• Well-received sorting experience was overlooked in 2021
• Only a few puzzle games scraped into niche award types

Value of Brain-Teasers

Frequently they represent compact experiences, however the design behind logic titles holds tremendous importance. Famous handheld logic titles count as the most-played games worldwide maintaining this status for many years.

The famous puzzle experience competes with popular creative games competing to become highest-selling title ever; it’s also in the running for best game of all time. Puzzle games are foundational for gaming as medium, while interacting with diverse game types.

Proposal and Rationale

Puzzle games wouldn’t have this problem. One could readily select multiple candidates with fascinating, diverse, deserving games each ceremony simply — actually, with challenge, because you’d have to leave many worthy titles.

And to reiterate, these represent titles without proper classification during prominent ceremonies. Puzzle game makers operate at the hard edge of video game design, developing some of most fundamental forms within interactive entertainment. Similar to film action specialists, they merit acknowledgment. Don't make them wait generations.